Shimla is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh, a state in northern India. Fans of the mini-series The Jewel in the Crown, based on Paul Scott’s Raj Quartet, will know it better as the hill station Pankot. Those who have viewed the scenes set in Pankot, especially scenes at Rose Cottage, will have admired the range of mountains in the distance: that is Himalaya.
When we visited Shimla in late October, 2014, we were fortunate to stay for several nights in the Wildflower Hall hotel, once the estate of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, set high in the mountains (8,250 feet above sea level) with a wonderful view of the Himalayan mountain range. The hotel had a telescope for viewing the snow-capped Himalayas, but it was not available while we were there. In addition, we were told that (1) there was a lot of mist hiding the mountains, but (2) the viewing had been excellent the day before we arrived and (3) would be excellent again the day after we left.
The night before we checked out, there was a heavy storm, with thunder and lightning, lasting about a half hour. At dawn the next morning, before the sun was fully up, we saw that the lawn was covered in hail stones. Downstairs on the breakfast terrace, we could clearly see even more mountains behind and higher than any we had seen before. The storm had cleared the air and gave us the view we had come for.
This photo was taken on Tuesday, 28 October 2014, with an Olympus TG-3 camera. Settings were f/6.3, 1/320 second, ISO 100, and focal length 18 mm (35mm equivalent focal length of 100 mm).
iball round the world 